RAPE: MARITAL RAPE - TYPES OF MARITAL RAPE

The
idea of the sacrosanct; institution of marriage dished out by the mainstream in
folklores passed down to women by their mothers and movies by Nollywood and
most especially Hollywood is a myth and is contrary to women perceptions of
reality. Though marital rape is the most common and repugnant form of masochism
in the Nigerian society, it is hidden behind the iron curtain of marriage.
Social practices and legal codes in Nigeria mutually enforce the denial of
women sexual agency and bodily integrity, which lie at the heart of women human
rights. Rape is rape. Be it stranger rape, date rape or marital rape. The law
does not treat marital rape as a crime.

Even if it does, the issue of penalty
remains lost in a cloud of legal uncertainty. The legal system must be forced
to accept rape within marriage as a crime. Further, women themselves must break
free of societal shackles and fight for justice. They must refuse to comply
with the standards applied to them as the weaker sex. This part of this
research work shall try and expose the discrimination, shortcomings and
fallacies of the criminal justice system in Nigeria as regards marital rape. It
goes on to provide arguments and reasons necessitating criminalization of
marital rape.

Marital
rape is any unwanted sexual acts by a spouse or ex-spouse, committed without
consent and/or against a person's will, obtained by force, or threat of force,
intimidation, or when a person is unable to consent. These sexual acts include
intercourse, anal or oral sex, forced sexual behaviour with other individuals,
and other sexual activities that are considered by the victim as degrading,
humiliating, painful, and unwanted.

Rape
is an offence, which hinges on the absence of consent of the woman. It is
important to realize that the absence of consent does not have to be only in
the form of the word ‘no'. It should be assumed from the context of the
situation. Within a marriage, if a woman gives consent to sexual intercourse
because of threat of injury to children or herself, depriving the woman of the
right to stay in the house or receive maintenance, it is not valid consent. It
is still rape.

The
offence of marital rape has not been sufficiently accounted for in the law. The
law does not punish rape within marriage if the woman is above fifteen years of
age. Forced sexual intercourse is an offence only when the woman is living
separately from her husband under judicial separation/custom. It must also be
remembered that situations of marital rape occur within the confines of the
home, and therefore there are often no witnesses to the crime.

Till
now the concept of Marital rape has not been recognised. We have been lobbying
for a law in order to make it an offence but for this we firstly need to
collect statistics of rape within marriage.

Despite
the historical myth that rape by one's partner is a relatively insignificant
event causing little trauma, research indicates that marital rape often has
severe and long-lasting consequences for women. The physical effects of marital
rape may include injuries to private organs, lacerations, soreness, bruising,
torn muscles, fatigue and vomiting. Women who have been battered and raped by
their husbands may suffer other physical consequences including broken bones,
black eyes, bloody noses, and knife wounds that occur during the sexual
violence. Specific gynaecological consequences of marital rape include
miscarriages, stillbirths, bladder infections, infertility and the potential
contraction of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV.

Women
who are raped by their partners are likely to suffer severe psychological
consequences as well. Some of the short-term effects of marital rape include
anxiety, shock, intense fear, depression, suicidal ideation, and post-traumatic
stress. Long-term effects often include disordered eating, sleep problems,
depression, and problems in establishing trusting relationships, and increased
negative feelings about themselves. Psychological effects are likely to be
long-lasting. Some marital rape survivors report flashbacks, sexual
dysfunction, and emotional pain for years after the violence.

TYPES OF MARITAL RAPE

The
following three kinds of marital rape are identified by legal scholars as
generally prevalent in the society:

1.
Battering rape:

In
battering rape, women experience both physical and sexual violence in the
relationship and they experience this violence in various ways. Some are
battered during the sexual violence, or the rape may follow a physically
violent episode where the husband wants to make up and coerces his wife to have
sex against her will. The majority of marital rape victims fall under this
category.

2.
Force-only rape:

In
what is called force-only rape, husbands use only the amount of force necessary
to coerce their wives; battering may not be characteristic of these
relationships. The assaults are typically after the woman has refused sexual
intercourse.

3.
Obsessive rape:

Other
women experience what has been labelled as sadistic or obsessive rape; these
assaults involve torture and/or perverse sexual acts and are often physically
violent.